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Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2: Love Bites
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2: Love Bites (2009) — Anthology * Genre and Sub-Genres: Parnormal Romance / Urban Fantasy / Vampire Romance / Vampire Fiction / Historical UF / Historical Vampire Romantic Fiction * Theme: Vampire Romance Description A wonderful variety of compellingly original vampire stories, many of them wholly unexpected, from award-winning, New York Times bestselling authors. There are typical vampires who would be right at home in a horror story or a gothic romance; historical vampires; contemporary, gritty, urban vampires; fang-in-cheek comedy; boy-meets-girl sweetheart stories (if a little bloodier!); and erotic tales of inhuman passions and midnight pleasures. Look out, too, for stand-alone stories relating to existing series and characters of contributing authors, or stories which develop more fully characters who have only walk-on parts in those authors' longer fiction. Includes writing by big-name authors such as Jennifer Ashley, Kim Harrison writing as Dawn Cook, Caitlin Kittredge, Diane Whiteside and Eileen Wilks. VAMPIRE VARIETIES: vampiric enforcer, vampire circus, vampire Doc Holiday, cursed vampire, vampire catering, vamp enforcer, vampire roman soldier/medic, dating game show, half-vamp, vampire lover, flapper filmstar, Aegis vampire hunter, daylight vampire, vamp wedding, half-vamp, assassin vampire, rogue vampire, old west vampire slayer, vampiric version of "99 Bottles of Beer", assassin vampire for the Dominae, obsession with vampire love Back Cover This exciting follow-up to the wildly successful Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance contains 30 short stories of hot blood, midnight pleasures, and inhuman passions. Containing the best names in the field, such as Eileen Wilks, Caitlin Kittredge, Jennifer Ashley, Dawn Cook, and Diane Whiteside, this compilation is sure to arouse attention. FF Synopsis by Story "Paris After Dark" - Jordan Summers # A NYPD cop broken by the loss of her partner, finds a new life in Paris after a run in with a vamp serial killer. ❖ Paris is escape for Rachel Chang, an NYPD homicide detective. Wandering the streets of Paris to escape the memories of the death of her partner, coming to terms with it. Getting mugged, bitten by a "deranged dentally challenged biter", and chasing the thief into the catacombs is almost a relief until she is caught by Gabriel Dumont, a vampiric enforcer. ❖ "Coven of Mercy" - Deborah Cooke * An oncologist who refuses to ever quit the fight, learns of mercy from an unusual `angel'. ❖ merciful take on the usefulness of vampires involving a dedicated cancer researcher, 'Icicle' Taylor, and her battle with saving lives from a distance. Excellent story. ❖ "Le Cirque de la Nuit" - Karen MacInerney * A circus aerialist whose performance stirs a hidden watcher, wants to go solo in the spotlight, but is she willing to pay the cost of succumbing to the dark allure of Le Cirque de la Nuit? - Not a romance. ❖ mildly terrifying peek into the hiring practices of a vampiric circus as well as gaining an inside look at the behind-the-scenes action in a regular circus. ❖ "Perdition" - Caitlin Kittredge * Doc Holiday's a vampire slayer in the old west—The romantic elements of the story are told in flash backs. ❖ An entirely different look at Kate Elder, Doc Holliday, and the gunfight at the OK Corral. ❖ "Deliver Us From Evil" - Dina James * A fake psychic eases a vampire's hunger. ❖ Story about a cursed vampire, lost memories, and the deliverance from the curse in the person of an angel, a fake psychic, an erotic dancer. ❖ "Blood and Thyme" - Camille Bacon-Smith * The owner of vampire catering company, whose servers are also the hordeuvres, needs to find a chef when human food is required on the menu for a special event. ❖ "Into the Mist For Ever" - Rosemary Laurey * `Forever' Vampires series (Vampire Romance, PNR) * Connected to her `Forever' Vampires series - A roman soldier/medic falls for a warrior woman on the brink of a battle between her people and his. ❖ A look at a Roman military surgeon in occupied Britain and his encounter with a Brigante Timeless who also dealt in healing. Their interaction and fascination with each other will create a lasting impression.❖ "Blood Feud" - Patti O'shea * A vamp enforcer is teamed up with her old demon lover to stop a war between their race. ❖ Torn apart years ago, Seere, a demon prince, and Isobel, a vampire, are thrown together again in an unexpected alliance set to determine who is murdering vampires. ❖ "Love Bites" - Angie Fox * After her 879 year marriage finally ends, a vamp princess looks for love on a dating game show, only the sexy bachelor she chooses has other plans for their dream date. ❖ A paranormal dating game in which the newly-widowed Katarina Volholme D'Transylvania is determined to escape her father's manipulation and intention of marrying her off, yet again, to another ancient vampire. She'll never get out of a castle at this rate! Instead, she is determined to live a bit of a life and the Love Bites dating game television show on Vamp TV is just the ticket! ❖ "Flotsam" - Caitlín R. Kiernan * This story was previously published as "Not One of Us" - a man heeds a monthly call to attend an ancient one as she rises from her watery resting place. ❖ a night inside the head of a human lost in his desire to feed a slowly-dying vampire. Beautifully written. ❖ "The Murder King's Woman" - Jamie Leigh Hansen * A Vampire's 'pet' pulls off a daring rescue. ❖ A different take on vampire-human relationships with a vampiric version of "99 Bottles of Beer"! ❖ "Butterfly Kiss" - Carole Nelson Douglas * When tomcat Midnight Louie stumbles on a vampire at the edge of true death, Louie needs to call in someone with hands, and he knows just the someone—fellow PI Delilah. This short brings Douglas' Delilah Street and Midnight Louie series together. ❖ A talking cat who works as a private investigator who rescues a daylight vampire, Damien Abbott, with the help of Delilah Street. Together, Louie and Delilah set a trap to learn who tried to assassinate Damien. ❖ "Crimson Kisses" - Diane Whiteside — * Texas vampire series (PNR) * A young woman arranges to run off with her vamp lover, little realizing that the meeting place she has chosen will force her lover to violate a powerful vamps territory. ❖ The tale of how Edmund Devereaux finally manages to marry Sarah Calvert with a bit of help from Don Rafael Perez at a New Year's ball in 1867. ❖ "Vampsploitation" - Jaye Wells * Sabina Kane series #0.5 * Sabina is on first assignment as an assassin - This is a prequel to Red-Headed Stepchild, and sets Sabina on her solitary path. ❖ Two assassins for the Dominae are tracking a man attempting to extort the vampire council. Pay him one billion dollars or he reveals all about vampires! Slade Corbin may be a young vampire, but he's also their best assassin and why he has been teamed up with Sabina, to teach her the ropes on her first kill mission. Only, the takedown goes as planned but the payoff is screwed. Sabina is determined that she will get her own back one day! ❖ "Trust Me" - Stacia Kane * A woman becomes mistress to a mysterious man whom she suspects of being Jack the Ripper. ❖ "The Scotsman and the Vamp" - Jennifer Ashley * A vampiress leaves behind her betrothed to become a silent film star. ❖ different look at the Jack the Ripper serial killings in Whitechapel in London in 1888. ❖ "I need More You" - Justine Musk * A vampire suffers from the continual abandonment of her angel lover but can't resist when he calls her to him once more. ❖ story about a rogue vampire searching the world over for very short encounters with an angel. In this encounter, they meet up at a Burning Man gathering in a desert. It seems neither can resist the other. ❖ "Point of No Return" - Jennifer St Giles * He has watched from the shadows and fallen in love from afar with the woman who is equally smitten with the statue which bears his likeness. ❖ the frustrating and short life of Christine Webber. A beautiful, young redhead working as a servant for the lecherous Lord Stafford, Christine has long fantasized about a statue in the graveyard erected to Aerick the Eternal. The fantasies a replacement for the fears she has in working for Lord and Lady Stafford. Little does she know that Aerick is eternal and in love with her. ❖ "With Friends Like These" - Dawn Cook * (aka Kim Harrison)Truth series: Dawn Cook * Hey what are friends for if not to help you with those pesky relatives? ❖ about roommates. Greg and Joe. Both live like pigs. Only Joe seems to be able to snag women with the crook of a finger. He also lives to run at night and insists on Greg accompanying him. One night in particular, Joe insists. The night Greg learns he's been set up. ❖ "Blood Gothic" - Nancy Holder * A teacher dreams of a vampire lover who will offer her eternity—reprinted story. ❖ a kindergarten teacher descends into a madness of her own obsession with vampire love. Also in Shadows 8, June 1985. ❖ "Eternity Embraced" - Larissa Ione * Demonica #3.5 (PNR) * An Aegis vampire hunter embarks on a rescue mission knowing that `saving' her lover from a fate worse than death will likely require a stake - since vamps tend to 'turn' captured hunters. ❖ a cell of the Aegis based on the West Coast. Poor intel traps one of the Guardians after they invade a wealthy man's estate. Being turned, means Kaden Quinn should be staked on sight, but his lover, Andrea Cole, can't do it. Instead they plot ways to get around this particular...ahem...issue. ❖ "The Ghost of Leadville" - Jeanne C. Stein * A vamp remembers the one that got away - this is the second Doc Holiday story in the collection but it was my favorite of the two and one of my favorites in the anthology. ❖ a vampire's sweet look back at a one-night stand Rose Sullivan had in Leadville with Doc Holliday. ❖ "The Vampire, the Witch and the Yenko" - Tiffany Trent * Disguised as a mechanic, a witch who is undercover on a mission to take out a Mafioso magic theif who drains witches of their power, crosses paths with a male vamp who is being stalked by a female vamp in heat determined not to take no for an answer. But even though the witch's cover is blown, she just may have the solution to both of their problems. ❖ Dani on a mission to stop Tony Martoni from taking down the Syndicate. Somehow Martoni has found a way to steal a witch's powers and Dani intends to take him down at the Island Cruise in North Carolina. Getting a job at a garage will get her in close to the action only Dani finds a lot more than the action she expects when she finds she's paired up with a night-working mechanic named Drake. Seems Drake has his own problems and the two of them might just make a good team. ❖ "Circle Unbroken" - Ann Aguirre * Fascinated with her prey, a vampiress gets caught in her own trap.❖ tale of reincarnation as through the ages Zach and Ysabel find and lose each other. A bond of life and love forever frustrated until.❖ "Skein of Sunlight" - Devon Monk * A `Yarn' about a cancer survivor and her chance to make new memories. ❖ a most unexpected trip to a yarn shop with all the yum of its colors and textures and an appreciation for fine knitting as Maddie rediscovers some lost memories and looks forward to gaining new delights.❖ Publishing Information * Publisher: Robinson * Book data: Paperback, 566 pgs, Pub: Sept 21, 2009—ISBN: 1849010439 References Category:Anthologies Category:Caitlín R. Kiernan Books